


im sorry taylor

by Omega_93



Category: Garfield - All Media Types, Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Body Horror, Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:35:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26612311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omega_93/pseuds/Omega_93
Summary: Danny notices his daughter is struggling, so he decides to get her a new companion. And what luck! It turns out the cute little guy loves lasagne as much as Taylor does!A series of short snippets. Things will probably get a little weird.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

~~~

Yᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ʜɪᴅᴇ ғʀᴏᴍ us ғᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ, Tᴀʏʟᴏʀ.

I held my breath, my hand clamped tightly over my mouth. I ordered all my bugs to stay still, to not betray a single sound. The darkness surrounded me, encroaching from all sides. Something told me I wasn’t in my house anymore. Hadn’t been for a very, very long time.

Wᴇ sᴍᴇʟʟ ʏᴏᴜʀ ғᴇᴀʀ, Wᴇ ʜᴇᴀʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍs, Wᴇ sᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴀsᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ғᴜᴛᴜʀᴇ, ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪs ʏᴏᴜ.

The voice felt like it was inside my head, a chorus of screams and whispers and retches that echoed endlessly in the void.

Yᴏᴜ sʜᴀʟʟ ʙʀɪɴɢ us ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀsᴀɢɴᴇ, Tᴀʏʟᴏʀ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴡᴇʟʟ.

I heard skittering, the sound of thousands of claws tip-tapping on wood, a wet slurping as the creature’s deformed body dragged itself around the abyss. 

Yᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀ ᴅᴇʟɪɢʜᴛ, ᴀ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴏғ sᴜᴄʜ ʙᴇᴀᴜᴛʏ ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ sᴇʟᴅᴏᴍ sᴇᴇɴ. Yᴏᴜʀ ʟᴀsᴀɢɴᴇ ɪs ᴀs ᴅᴇʟᴇᴄᴛᴀʙʟᴇ ᴀs ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴɴᴀʀᴅs ᴏғ ᴀ ɴᴇᴡʙᴏʀɴ. Wᴇ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ʟɪᴠᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ɪᴛ. Wᴇ ᴍᴜsᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ɪᴛ. Wᴇ ᴍᴜsᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ.

I closed my eyes, trying to lock my limbs up to stop the trembling. It didn’t work. Part of me didn’t expect it to.

Silence descended. I didn’t trust it for a moment. 

Sure enough, from the darkness came the face of a ginger tabby cat, grin bisecting its skull in half, revealing the rotten flesh underneath.

My eyes were still closed. I hadn't opened them.

Cᴏᴍᴇ, ᴄʜɪʟᴅ. Hᴀs ᴛʜɪs ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴏғ ᴄᴀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴏᴜsᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ɢᴏɴᴇ ᴏɴ ғᴏʀ ᴛᴏᴏ ʟᴏɴɢ? Aʟʟ ᴡᴇ ᴀsᴋ ɪs ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀsᴀɢɴᴇ. Is ᴛʜᴀᴛ sᴏ ᴅɪғғɪᴄᴜʟᴛ?

“Fuck you,” I hissed.

Nᴏᴡ ɴᴏᴡ. Nᴏ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ɢᴀᴜᴄʜᴇ.

“You ate my dad!”

Oʜ ᴅᴇᴀʀ, ʜᴏᴡ ᴛᴇʀʀɪʙʟᴇ. Yᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴏᴜʀ sɪɴᴄᴇʀᴇsᴛ ᴀᴘᴏʟᴏɢɪᴇs. Wᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ғᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ᴘᴇᴄᴋɪsʜ, ʏᴏᴜ sᴇᴇ.

The creature paused, its grotesque grin somehow growing wider.

Yᴏᴜ sᴀɪᴅ ɪᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀsᴇʟғ, Tᴀʏʟᴏʀ. Cᴀᴛs ɢᴇᴛ ᴄʀᴀɴᴋʏ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ғᴇᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ.

~~~


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes Danny felt like he was stood in the sea, and the tide had been steadily rising for his entire life. At some point, the water level had risen above his head, and he’d ended up so deep he couldn’t see the surface, darkness eclipsing him.

It wasn’t any one thing, despite how easy that explanation might have been. A combination of factors. The city, his friends, his job.

The love of his life.

In the end, he’d been drowning so long it was hard to care anymore. But he wasn’t stupid, never had been. 

If there was one last bit of light in his life, it was his daughter. Her smiles came half as frequently as they once had, and he couldn’t remember the last time they’d had a conversation that strayed beyond the bounds of semi-uncomfortable smalltalk.

Still, she was all she had left.

But he wasn’t stupid. He watched her, observed, and he could see it. That same rising tide, somewhere up to her neck. It horrified him, haunted his thoughts at every waking moment, and every time he put his head against the pillow and closed his eyes.

He didn’t want her down here with him. Couldn’t bear it. But what could he realistically do? If he hadn’t seen a way to pull himself out of the depths in however many years it had been, how could he possibly do it for Taylor?

It was on his way home—he’d decided to walk—from the Dockworkers Association, that it came to him. Slapped him round the face with how obvious it was, even.

When was the last time Emma, or anyone else for that matter, come round? Annette’s voice had left the house for good, and sometimes it felt like only silence had crept in to fill the gap. Shouldn’t Taylor have friends? She was a young girl, surely he should’ve heard giggling and shrieking and ‘oh my god, that looks, like, so rad on you.’ Taylor had never once begged him to let her have a slumber party.

That revelation, unfortunately, led him to a pet store. A human friend was beyond his ability to provide, so a little furry companion would have to do for now.

He walked among the cages, searching through his grey and dusty memory for any indication of what animal Taylor would most appreciate. He came up blank, which made him feel like the waters above him had gained a few feet, but what did that matter? When you were a mile underwater, another meter didn’t matter much. 

In the end, he couldn’t say why he stopped at the cage of a plump little tabby-cat with a rather strange name: Garfield, according to the shop assistant who he called over when he couldn’t decipher the faded sign above the rotund kitty’s cage. 

“Owner dropped him off outside the back door without a word or a note,” the shop assistant said with a rueful shake of his head. “Poor little guy’s been in here for a while. I should warn you, he’s a picky eater.”

Danny didn’t reply to that, finding himself in a staring contest with a ginger feline. He was a curious little thing, sat on his hind legs, staring back at Danny with a tilted head and eyes that shone with an emotion he couldn’t quite place. Well, it was a cat, so maybe emotion was the wrong word.

Danny shook his head, feeling silly.

Garfield settled into their home well enough, pawing at their threadbare couch and sniffing the air. Much to Danny’s relief, Taylor took to their new family member like a bug to the dark. He didn’t know where that metaphor came from, but some depths-dwelling instinct told him it fit. 

She spun him around in the air, rubbed her face in his fur, and cooed at the little creature with a life and joy in her voice that Danny hadn’t heard in years. His heart soared, thumping back to life in a kind of half painful, half joyful way. There was a little bit of light above him, breaking through the endless abyss he’d been trapped in.

Problems arose, however, when it came to feeding time. Danny cursed the shop assistant’s rather understated assessment of the situation. He would’ve rather liked more of a warning about the fact the cat would turn his nose up at kibbled cat food, chicken, beef and even goddamn fish.

Eventually, they gave up and settled in to have their own dinner, Taylor looking downcast. It was all the more heart-wrenching to see her like this when just an hour before she’d smiled him in a way that he felt like the sun was shining on his face. It wasn’t fair, he thought, and he wanted it back.

So, for lack of anything better to do, he cooked her favourite dish.

He’d expected to cheer up his daughter with it. He certainly hadn’t expected to cheer up their new furry family member, especially not to such a degree.

Garfield full out leapt onto their table, making a beeline for the lasagna the moment Danny set it down. Danny displayed reflexes he didn’t know he still had as he slammed his arm in the cat’s way, glaring it down. Garfield skidded to an abrupt stop, frozen in place with his back arched and his tail pointed to the sky.

Slowly, the cat’s feral, a̫̦͚l͉̺͎l̻̙͖-̼͖͉e͇̠͇n̼̝̙c̟̫͍o̡͎͇m̝͔͜p̟̟͚a͚̘s̺͖̺s̺̠i͍̝̝n̘̻̟g͍͙̘, a͛̓l̓̿̒l̈́̾͊-̈́̒̕e͘͠c͋͐͝l͒̓i͒͆̐p̈́̾͑s͆̐̚i̾͌̚n̈́̚g̓͊͝, a̵̡̪̼̔͑̽l̸͔̫̔͊̿͜l̸̪̼̺̓̿̕-̸̦͍̝̈́̒̚d̴̠̫̓͋e̴͚͎̫̾̒͝v̸̝͉͐̕o̵͙͎̞͒͛͠u̴̪͔͕͐̕r̴̻͉̞̐͊̐ḯ̵͔̪̪̾n̵͕͍̺̾͛͋g̸̺̝̙̽͋̈́ gaze turned from the dish to Danny’s eyes.

L̵̴A̴̴S̸̴A̴̸G̵̸N̵̴A̸̴.̵̵

Danny wasn’t sure what he saw then, but next thing he knew he was stood at the other end of the kitchen with no memory of how he got there. He blinked a few times, looked around. Then blinked a few more.

Taylor, smile back in place, was spoon-feeding lasagna to the fat little cat as it laid on its back, luxuriating like an emperor or a king.

“Seems the little guy likes lasagna as much as I do,” Taylor said with a giggle.

Garfield looked up at him then, those adorable eyes shining with cuteness and innocence and love.

“I guess so,” Danny replied.

If Taylor was happy, he supposed it was alright.

~~~


End file.
